Brother André, Prayer Warrior and Healer

The Novice Master whispered in Brother André’s ear:
"Do not worry; I shall see to it that you make your vows."

At the end of his novitiate, Brother André was
assigned to be Doorkeeper of Notre Dame College, the college-seminary of
the Order.

As he entered the grounds of the college for the first time
and looked at the building he realized, it was the stone building, he
had seen in his dream!

He stayed in this position as doorkeeper for
forty years.

André had many tasks which he took very seriously,
and he did them all faithfully, snatching precious moments during the
day to pray. Although he was a man of prayer, he never neglected his
assigned responsibilities.

As a matter of fact, all of the activities
for which he became famous, were done for the most part in his off-duty
time as doorkeeper. As doorkeeper he answered the doorbell and welcomed
visitors. Part of this position involved

looking for
religious or students for whom the visitors had come.

This gave him an
opportunity to talk to them about Jesus, Mary and Joseph, as he was
leading them to the parlor. Besides being the porter of the door,
another duty was to keep the parlor and the three corridors of the
college neat and clean. In between all these loving tasks, he was the
school barber.

André loved this job particularly because, as he was
cutting the brothers’ hair, he had a captive audience. It was one on
one; he could lead them to a deeper understanding and consequently a
more profound devotion to Saint Joseph. He remembered always the words
of the bishop about making the homage to Saint Joseph well-known.

He also had chores outside the college. He was given
the responsibility to go to town on different errands. One of these was
picking up the mail. Another was driving to the students’ homes on
Saturday and doing their laundry.

He considered all of these tasks very
important, offering everything he did to the cause of Saint Joseph. He
prayed as he performed these tasks. As André went about his varied
duties, the townspeople got to know him. They started to tell him about
people who were suffering with illnesses.

He went to their homes,
visited with them, prayed with them, and then rubbed the ailing person
with some oil from the lamp which burned in front of Saint Joseph’s
statue in the college chapel. Somehow this angel of mercy was able to do
all this and not neglect his appointed duties.

As Mother Angelica says,
"

Unless
we are willing to do the ridiculous, God cannot do the miraculous."

As the ill began to heal miraculously, the word
spread. More and more people stopped him and asked him to go to a loved
one who was ailing. They lovingly called him:

"good Brother
André." He healed the sick. They told everyone
he was a saint, to his deep dismay. Brother André
constantly corrected them, insisting always that it was through Saint
Joseph’s intercession that the healings took place.

This frail brother, whom his Superiors thought would
be a burden, did the much needed work of

ten religious. He was kept so busy, he would sit off in a corner of the
dining room, barely taking time to eat. It is miraculous in itself when
you think how this man, who could just about eat a mouthful of food
because he suffered terribly with pains in his stomach,3
could have had all the energy he had, never complaining as he
humbly and diligently went about doing his work.

Pupils and parents alike soon discovered in this
unaffected, humble doorkeeper, a man of deep faith, someone they could
turn to. In a world where no one cared whether most people lived or
died, Brother André sat with them, listened to them, held their hands
and cried with them. With his openness and friendly, loving disposition,
he touched many, and they opened up to him, sharing illnesses of mind,
body and spirit. He always consoled them by saying,

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